Chocolate oreo cupcakes

Hello hello. There is nothing I love more than baking and eating cakes and I adore my Hummingbird bakery cookbook more than any other recipe book I own. However, there are only so many icing combinations that you can pair with a plain sponge so I did the fairly standard twist-add oreos.

Make your chocolate cake mix by beating 100g plain flour (sieved), 20g cocoa powder (sieved), 140g caster sugar, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt and 40g unsalted butter. Then mix in 120ml milk, 1 egg and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract ( I may have got my little brother to do all this).

Split equally into 12 cupcake cases and then push a whole oreo to the bottom of each case. Place them into your pre-heated oven (170 degrees) for around 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin whilst you prepare your buttercream. I decided to go with cream cheese frosting but you could always make oreo buttercream by stirring crushed oreos into your standard buttercream mix.

Beat 300g icing sugar and 50g unsalted butter together until light and fluffy (around 3 minutes) and then mix in 125g cream cheese. Once your cakes are cool you can pipe/smother them in the frosting and top with whatever you fancy.

Don't forget-you aren't obligated to share these with anyone, we won't judge you if you eat all 12 because they really are delicious.

I think I might try to create Jaffa Cake cupcakes next time, stay tuned.

xoxo

A 16 legged Octopus?

NOTE: I am not trying to say this is my recipe. If you watch it then you will of course know this is the recipe that Richard did during bread week on the Great British Bake Off. I just really wanted to give it a go and thought I would share my thoughts/pictures and mistakes.

For the dough

• 500g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
• 10g table salt
• 25g caster sugar
• 10g fast-action yeast
• 30g unsalted butter
• 2 large free-range eggs, beaten
• 50ml semi-skimmed milk
• olive oil, for greasing

For the filling

• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced into strips
• ⅓ medium butternut squash, cut into strips
• olive oil, for drizzling
• 100g feta
• 50g shelled walnuts, broken into small pieces

For the pesto

• 50g pine nuts
• 50g parmesan
• 150ml olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• Bunch of basil

For the topping

• 1 large free-range egg
• 10g pine nuts
• flaked sea salt, to taste
• cracked black pepper, to taste
  
  
  
  To make the dough, put the bread flour in a large bowl. Add the salt, sugar, yeast, butter, beaten eggs, milk and 25ml warm water. Mix until combined. Add up to another 100ml warm water, mixing between additions until you have a soft dough.
  
  Lightly flour a work surface and knead the dough for about 10 minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic.
  
  
  

Lightly oil a large bowl and add the dough. Cover with cling film and set aside to prove for about an hour.

For the filling, preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.

Put the onion, pepper and butternut squash onto baking trays, drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until tender. REMEMBER: Onions make you cry, don't let it distract you or you will slice a chunk out of your finger and it hurts.

Pesto: Heat a small, dry frying pan over a low heat. Add the pine nuts and toast until lightly browned. Add the pine nuts and all the remaining pesto ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth. I personally only think you need to make half this mixture as it is very garlic-y and can be overpowering.

To finish the bread, knock back the proved dough by kneading it for 20 seconds, then cut it into two. Wrap half in oiled cling film and set aside.

On a floured work surface, roll the remaining half of dough into a circle with diameter of approximately 30cm. Let the dough rest for a few five minutes – it will shrink back. Roll it out again to a diameter of approximately 32cm and place on a large, greased baking tray. (As you can see below, it doesn't need to be perfect. I also added a sprinkling of semolina on the tray to help stop the bread getting a soggy bottom)

Spread three tablespoons of pesto over the dough and pile the roasted vegetables, feta and walnuts over the top in layers, making the layers slightly deeper in the centre (When i made this, the recipe said: 'Pile the roast vegetables, feta and walnuts in the centre measuring roughly 10cm wide and 8cm high'. Apparently they realised this was stupid and changed it, which is what I realised at the next step) This will form the base of the bread.

Roll out the remaining dough as in step 8. This will make the top layer. (I think a light spreading of pesto is required to sit on top of the veg.)

Brush the edges of the base with a little water and carefully lift the top layer onto the base.

Use a sharp knife to trim the dough into a neat circle (approximately 30cm/12in diameter) (Don't bother, unless you feel particularly inclined to do so). Place a small bowl over the filling in the centre. (The size of the bowl depends on how long you want your twists to be) Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 equally-sized strips radiating from the bowl. Twist each strip twice and cut the ends into points (Again, don't bother). Press the end of each strip onto the baking sheet to stop them unravelling while they prove. Set aside to prove for about 30 minutes. (I just placed inside a plastic bag because it seemed like the right thing to do. Plus, I have a dog and she may have taken her 
chances and stolen it from the side)

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.

For the topping, brush the top of the dough with the beaten egg and sprinkle the pine nuts, salt and pepper in the centre (I crushed the pine nuts, salt and pepper together and sprinkled across the whole lot). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden-brown. Check after 15 minutes and cover the twists with aluminium foil if they are browning too quickly. Allow to cool before serving. (Why would you do that. It tastes so much better hot from the oven.)

I would love to see pictures if you try this recipe. Tweet me at @strawbteacake. 

Enjoy!

xoxo

Choc caramel

Hey guys, quick recipe post for you today. Since the GBBO has been back on, all I want to do is bake. So I did, and here it is. Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate and caramel drizzle!

Stir 125g of sugar and 2tbsp of water together in a heavy based pan, put on a medium heat until the sugar dissolves and then turn up the heat and wait until it starts to look like the below image (do not stir during this process!)

When it starts looking like caramel. Take off the heat and stir in 25g of butter and 70ml of double cream, leave to cool.

Sift 100g of plain flour, 140g of caster sugar, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt and 20g cocoa powder. Add 40g of butter and mix. Gradually add an egg, 1/4 tsp vanilla essence and 120ml milk, don't over mix. Divide between 12 cases or double up for 24 ;). Cook at 170 degrees, or 150 degrees in a fan oven for 20 minutes ish, or until skewer comes out clean.

Sift 375g of icing sugar and mix with 120g of butter and 35ml milk. Use a big star nozzle to create this look with the buttercream (or do whatever you want,) drizzle your caramel over the top, and if that isn't enough, melt some chocolate and put that on top too.

Don't worry, you can thank me later!

Megan xo

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Risotto recipe

I have a recipe post that isn't to do with baking today, crazy!

Last night I made risotto for Jake, he had never had it before so it was comforting to know that he wouldn't of had a clue if it went wrong. Fortunately, it didn't go terribly, I was actually quite proud.

Ingredients

As much chorizo as you like, I used about 150g, slice it thinly.

Risotto rice, 1/2 cup per person

1 large glass of white wine

Baby tomatoes

2 sweet potatoes

Vegetable stock

1 red onion

2 cloves garlic

Olive oil

Butter

Balsamic vinegar

You may notice a red pepper in there, I forgot to use it, oopsie, feel free to add it in though.

Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees, put your tomatoes and sweet potato chunks in a baking tray, cover in a generous amount of olive oil, season with salt and a little pepper and add a splash of balsamic vinegar, roast for about 25 minutes.

Put some oil in a deep pan, add the sliced garlic and onion and fry for roughly 5 minutes, add the chorizo and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add the rice, and after a couple of minutes on a medium heat, add the wine. Make sure it's hot enough for the wine to simmer. Add your stock cube to 500ml of boiling water and stir until completely dissolved. Start to add it to the rice, bit by bit, it should take 15-20 minutes to do this, don't rush it or your risotto could end up dry and stodgy.

Your sweet potato and tomatoes should be done by now, stir them in and add a knob of butter, stir and then leave to rest for a few minutes. Serve how you like, salad/bread works well, season to taste.

Enjoy!

Megan xo

 

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'It's not Terry's cake, it's mine'

Hey guys!

So, today I thought I'd do a recipe post for a change. I absolutely love baking cakes, and I love decorating them too (I'm not very good at decorating big cakes though, I go a bit crazy and it ends up looking like a child got at it.) I decided on 'Chocolate and Orange ring cake' as a couple of weeks ago I used a similar recipe but used Lemon and Poppy Seeds and everyone seemed to like it. Besides, it has chocolate in it so it must be good right?

You will need:

A ring mould

Cake

250g/9oz Self raising flour

200g/7oz Caster sugar

175g/6oz Unsalted butter (and extra for greasing)

2 tsp Baking Powder

3 Eggs (beaten)

2 small oranges (or in my case, 1 big orange)

90g/3oz Plain chocolate

Topping

50g/2oz Plain chocolate

170g/6oz Icing sugar

2 tbsp Orange juice

Preheat your oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3

Start by grating the zest of your orange(s), and put aside. Then peel the orange and remove the horrible core/top bit (as you can see in the picture.) Remove as much of the white skin as possible and cut the segments into small pieces. Try to reserve around 2 tablespoons of the orange juice, as you will need this for the icing later.

Coarsely grate 90g of your plain chocolate and set aside with the orange segments.

Sift the flour and baking powder into your mixing bowl, add the pre beaten eggs, sugar, butter and orange zest and mix on a low speed until the mixture is smooth, (be careful not to over-mix.)

Fold in the Orange segments and the grated chocolate until it is nicely mixed.

Be sure to grease your ring mould well before adding the mixture, as it will only make it easier for you to remove once it's cooked!

Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until it is golden brown and springy to touch (and that if you insert a skewer it'll come out relatively clean.) Wait until the cake has cooled before turning out.

Make the icing by sifting your icing sugar into a bowl before mixing in around 2 tablespoons of your reserved orange juice. It should be a slightly runny consistency, (you can always add a few drops of water if it's a bit thick.) Drizzle over the cake however you like.

Melt 50g of plain chocolate over a pan of hot water, and then drizzle over the icing. Finish by grating some extra chocolate or orange zest over the top (or leave it as it is.)

 Voila! Serve with a nice big mug of Tea and enjoy!


Which ingredients shall I try next?

Megan xo